How about a $500 gift from your broker?

Now this is a cool concept that we just had to share. A boutique NYC broker gives renters a gift of an iPad, a 42″ LCD TV, or a $500 gift card, just for renting a $2,500+ apartment through them. That’s one generous apartment-warming gift.We called Katherine Heyboer, one of the firms top agents (update: Heyboer has since left the firm) about the idea and she said: “We want to make sure we are giving something back to our clients. We do appreciate any business that we get, and it’s the least we can do… Ultimately though, our clients use our services, and repeatedly come back to us, not because of a gift, but because of our proven experience, knowledge of the market, and because every individual on our team is commited to providing the absolute best service.” Amen to that. As a brokerage firm that prides themselves on customer service with great rental agents, this gift clearly demonstrates that commitment. Forget about “service with a smile,” we prefer “service with a free iPad.”

We at Naked Apartments hope other firms start doing similar things for NYC renters. After all, with ridiculously high average rental prices in NYC a small gift of $500 is a worthy token of appreciation.

Nice way to gain loyal clients. It’s also good that they’re giving away items you can use right now, meaning they are “in” and not just castoffs or leftover freebies of whichever company is out there that wants attention.

This is a very cool idea to give renter’s an extra incentive of renting with you. The only concern I have is if some realty companies are just passing the cost of the gift on to the renters. Not accusing Gotham of this (I looked them up and they seem very reputable), but is there a way for a prospective renter to make sure they aren’t paying for their own gift?